This document summarizes the methodology used to evaluate the usability of a university's English graduate studies website. The evaluation included performing individual assessments of the website using heuristics, interviewing the stakeholder to understand goals, and conducting usability tests with current and prospective students. Issues were identified and categorized as severe, major, moderate, or minor. Recommendations were provided to address the usability problems in each category. The conclusions emphasize that improving the usability and accessibility of information on the website can help promote the graduate program and better serve prospective and current students.

1. Table of Contents
Introduction & Background................................................... 4
Methodology......................................................................... 5
Participant Selection............................................................................................. 5
Participant Information.......................................................................................... 6
Data Collection and Interpretation......................................................................... 7
Test Procedures.................................................................................................... 7
Questions & Tasks................................................................................................ 8
Results................................................................................... 12
Pre-Task Questionnaire (Qualitative)..................................................................... 12
Post-Task Questionnaire....................................................................................... 14
Quantitative Results ............................................................................................. 21
Analysis of Findings............................................................... 25
Severe Issues....................................................................................................... 25
Major Issues.......................................................................................................... 33
Moderate Issues.................................................................................................... 38
Minor Issues.......................................................................................................... 41
Positive Feedback................................................................................................. 42
Recommendations Checklist................................................. 45
Conclusion............................................................................ 51
Appendices
A) Participant Screener......................................................................................... 52
B) Consent Form................................................................................................... 55
C) Personas........................................................................................................... 56
D) Quantitative Data Tables................................................................................... 61
E) Findings Tables................................................................................................. 64
F) Nielsenʼs Heuristics........................................................................................... 78
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2. Methodology
In order to provide our stakeholder with quality recommendations, we approached our research in
graduated phases, ultimately providing our sponsor with detailed, comprehensive recommendations.
We began the process of creating our methodology weeks before usability testing started. Initially, our
team performed individual evaluations of the site using Nielsenʼs Heuristics (Appendix F) to gain a
firm understanding of the websiteʼs most prevalent problems. We then interviewed Dr. Mark Van
Wienen, our stakeholder, in order to establish his goals for the site and assess how we could design
our test to reach these objectives. Based on our preliminary research, we constructed a usability test
for two user groups: current English graduate students and prospective English graduate students.
We completed a first draft of our scenarios, revised them using sponsor feedback, then ran a practice
test and modified our plan to eliminate potential errors.
Participant Selection
To recruit test participants who represent the siteʼs real users, our team identified two primary
user groups: prospective and current graduate students in the English Department at NIU. We
then created two detailed personas describing those users and their technological expectations
(Appendix C).
The characteristics of each user group, as well as other questions pertaining to the userʼs prior
experience, behaviors, and other criteria, were used to create the screening questionnaire which
was used to help identify suitable test participants (Appendix A). A general description of each
user group follows.
Prospective Students
• age between 18-30
• a mix of male and female
• must use the internet at least 5 hours per week
• must be an undergraduate or graduate student at an accredited university
• must have no experience using the English Graduate Program website
Current Students
• age between 22-60
• a mix of male and female
• must use the internet at least 5 hours per week
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3. Moderate
Help Users Toggle between Multiple Windows
Include a heading above links to outside sources that inform users that they will be
taken to a different part of the NIU website when clicking the links below. This includes
any pages which are not part of the English Department website. This can be as simple
as “External Resources” or “Other NIU Resources.”
Include a heading or other introductory text for links to PDFs. For instance, you might
indicate that the Handbook link will take users to a PDF by placing this information
directly in the link title: “Handbook PDF.” This may be especially useful for maintaining
the consistency of the links in the left-hand navigation, as this is currently the only PDF
within those links.
Whenever possible, transfer any information contained within external or PDF links to a
local page. If there is a lot of information to parse, it may require a new page(s).
Devote the light yellow box either to external links or to internal links.
Eliminate the light yellow box. Instead, place all local navigation inside the existing
local navigation box on the left. To form a consistent layout, place all external
navigation in a clearly marked box underneath the local navigation on the left.
Terminology - Inconsistent Throughout Site
Use terminology consistently throughout the site. Mixing and matching terms that lead
to the same links or information can be confusing and stressful for the users.
English Education Certificate should be clearly distinguished from English Education
Masters so that users do not confuse the two; a simple solution would be to create
separate and distinctive headings for the two categories.
Minor
Missing Information
Include a profile picture for each professor.
Aesthetics and Layout
Updating the visual aesthetics could be beneficial for users who are more attracted to
modern aesthetics.
Chunk information so as to provide white space for users. This will not only to help
users process and locate information but also provide users with a more visually open
and appealing aesthetic.
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4. Conclusion
The English Graduate Studies website is devoted to disseminating reputable information about
Northern Illinoisʼ English graduate program. Both current students and prospective students rely
on the website to learn information about applying to the program, obtain financial aid, complete
their degrees, and find faculty specializations. In order to best serve studentsʼ needs and
encourage application to the program, the Department of English must provide accessible,
practical information about its graduate programs.
In order to promote NIUʼs English Graduate program to outside universities and prospective
students and to ensure that the website is properly serving its current students, the website
should reflect the expertise and excellence of the program itself. Our research, interviews, and
usability tests have illuminated a number of problems impeding the communicability of the
English Graduate Studies website. More importantly, however, our findings and analyses reveal
several actions which can be taken to more effectively encourage prospective students to apply
to the program and to create a self-sufficient website that current students can refer to for
information about completing their degrees, eliminating their need to confer with an advisor.
We hope that our recommendations will help Dr. Van Wienen and the Graduate Studies
webmaster redesign the site to provide users with a more reliable, consistent, manageable, and
navigable experience and thereby bolster the reputation of NIUʼs English Graduate program.
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